Beywheelz, by the way, are small “battling” tires. I wish I could sell that concept better, but then, Beyblades are small “battling” tops.

CRTC news

CRTC launches the Canadian Broadcasting Participation Fund. The CBPF will subsidize public-interest and consumer groups’ costs of participation, when it comes to CRTC broadcasting proceedings. The CBPF will also support research, analysis and advocacy relating to current CRTC broadcasting proceedings.

The Captains is mostly about Shatner, d/b/a the original James Tiberius Kirk. Shatner is his own cottage industry at this point, so that’s expected.

Entertainment One and Steven Bochco team up for Evolution. In the proposed series, a young boy, and/or the descendents of mankind, open a “box of human knowledge” three million years in the future.

Bochco is synonymous with cop and lawyer dramas, including Hill Street Blues,L.A. Law,NYPD Blue, and Murder One. Bochco also mounted some notorious flops, including Capitol Critters,Cop Rock, and one-episode-wonder Public Morals. Science fiction isn’t new to Bochco, but it’s not a genre he’s known for.

Evolution will be shopped at MIPTV 2012, which takes place from April 1-4, 2012, in Cannes, France.

Odds and sods

The Toronto film industry brought in $1.13 billion to the local economy in 2011, according to the City of Toronto. This is the highest level of revenue for the Toronto film industry since 2002, and the first time the Toronto film industry has cleared the $1 billion threshold in nine years.